Mysterious Startup Gogoro Quietly Raises $150 Million For An Electric Scooter You'll Never Have To Plug In

Gogoro's battery-powered scooter. Gogoro Gogoro, a mysterious startup that raised $150 million and has been working in stealth mode for the past four years, is launching its first product at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

That product is a smart electric scooter that you'll never have to plug in to charge.

Instead, the scooter is powered by a small, portable battery that you can swap out at battery-swapping stations across major cities, Greg Kumparak reports at TechCrunch.

The battery-swapping stations would initially just provide batteries for scooters; however, as Gogoro builds out a wider range of products, the batteries could also power other vehicles.

Gogoro's connected iPhone app. Gogoro

The batteries are built with the same lithium-ion cells that are used in the Tesla Model S. They contain a couple dozen sensors inside and each one weighs about 20 pounds.

When your scooter runs low on juice, Gogoro's complimentary smartphone app redirects you to the nearest "GoStation" hub, where you can swap batteries. Each weather-proofed hub can hold and charge eight batteries at a time.

When you purchase a Gogoro scooter, you're also sold a subscription plan that gives you access to the charging hubs. The subscription cost theoretically replaces what you'd spend on gas, though Gogoro hasn't announced pricing for either the scooter itself or the charging costs.

Aside from its plugless charging, the scooter is similar to other electric scooters. With a maximum speed of around 60 miles per hour and a maximum range of around 100 miles per charge, it's ideal for short trips and commuting. Its system connects to the cloud via a cellular network and provides onboard diagnostics through a connected smartphone app.